No link between Common Core and performance

There is one giant problem with Boyce Upholt's faith that Common Core will improve Mississippi education: Research shows that the quality of a state's standards has no effect on how much kids learn.

U.S. and international research has compared state and national standards to student performance, and found no link. The Brookings Institution, for example, analyzed these two items and found that some states with high expectations for children have low student performance, and some with low expectations have high student performance. In short, there is something else between standards and children, and that is schools and teachers. They are the ones who decide whether standards ultimately mean anything.

Even if such a link existed, Common Core is an entirely untried set of goals for what children should learn--no children anywhere have ever encountered them before--which indicates those who support it care more about slogans than evidence.

From his own experience working with Teach for America, Upholt should be familiar with the research that also shows teachers are the number 1 influence on kids in classrooms. I suggest he and everyone start focusing on improving Mississippi teachers, since we know that works, and stop their wild, unsupported belief in Common Core.

Sincerely,

Joy Pullmann

Education research fellow, Heartland Institute

Joy PullmannChicagoUser submission

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No link between Common Core and performance

Dear editors,There is one giant problem with Boyce Upholt's faith that Common Core will improve Mississippi education: Research shows that the quality of a state's standards has no effect on how much